Overall
- Fort Smith
- 85.9
- Lake Charles
- 85.9
Diff -0.0 RPP
Fort Smith vs Lake Charles
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Lake Charles is 0% less expensive than Fort Smith.
0% less expensive
Lake Charles, LA is 0% less expensive than Fort Smith, AR-OK on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 85.9 vs 85.9). A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith buys about the same as $99,958 in Lake Charles; the largest component gap is services.
- Overall RPP 85.9 (Fort Smith) vs 85.9 (Lake Charles)
- $100k in Fort Smith ≈ $99,958 purchasing power in Lake Charles
- Services drives the gap (-2.1 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair AR:LA 85.9→85.9
PHOTO-FINISH · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- CROSS-STATE AR × LA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Fort Smith
85.9
Cost Index
Lake Charles
85.9
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Fort Smith, AR-OK and Lake Charles, LA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 0.0 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Services creates the largest separation: Lake Charles is 2.1 points lower. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
For a service-heavy household, test childcare, health, and other locally supplied costs before relying on rent alone. The BEA ratio converts $100,000 in Fort Smith to $99,958 in Lake Charles, but it is not a personal spending weight.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Fort Smith
- 93.6
- Lake Charles
- 93.7
Diff +0.1 RPP
Services
- Fort Smith
- 73.8
- Lake Charles
- 71.7
Diff -2.1 RPP
Rents
- Fort Smith
- 53.4
- Lake Charles
- 51.8
Diff -1.7 RPP
| Category | Fort Smith | Lake Charles | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 85.9 | 85.9 | -0.0 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 93.7 | +0.1 |
| Services | 73.8 | 71.7 | -2.1 |
| Rents | 53.4 | 51.8 | -1.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Fort Smith 85.9
Lake Charles 85.9
Goods
Fort Smith 93.6
Lake Charles 93.7
Services
Fort Smith 73.8
Lake Charles 71.7
Rents
Fort Smith 53.4
Lake Charles 51.8
Vertical line = national average (100)
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Fort Smith would need to be in Lake Charles for the same purchasing power:
| In Fort Smith | In Lake Charles | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $49,979 | $-21 |
| $75,000 | $74,969 | $-31 |
| $100,000 | $99,958 | $-42 |
| $150,000 | $149,937 | $-63 |
$ in Fort Smith = in Lake Charles
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (85.9 → 85.9), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lake Charles more expensive than Fort Smith?
Lake Charles is 0% less expensive than Fort Smith. The overall cost index is 85.9 vs 85.9 (national average = 100).
What salary in Lake Charles equals $100K in Fort Smith?
A $100,000 salary in Fort Smith has the same purchasing power as $99,958 in Lake Charles. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Fort Smith and Lake Charles?
Rents in Fort Smith are indexed at 53.4 while Lake Charles is at 51.8 (national average = 100). Fort Smith has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.